After collecting six hits on the previous homestand, the Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo moved Corbin Carroll back to the leadoff spot. He rewarded his manager’s faith with two hits, a home run, and drove in the team’s first five runs in a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark. He became just the third player in franchise history to have five RBI from the top spot in the order, with Steve Finley and Chris Young (twice) accomplishing the feat.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“I probably thought something spectacular was about to happen, but five RBIs wasn’t on my bingo card,” said Lovullo. “He executed to get that first one, a big base hit, just a lot of little things went right, but the home run was an impressive swing. He’s a good player and in my opinion, things were going to start to develop for him. I know he’s going to continue to work hard and have days like this.”
Carroll’s heroics were set up with a strong night from the bottom of the order. Jake McCarthy, Randal Grichuk, Tucker Barnhart, and Kevin Newman combined to reach base six times, putting the Diamondbacks in prime scoring opportunities as the lineup turned over to the top. Carroll capitalized on those opportunities, driving in runs in the third and fifth on a fielder’s choice groundout and an RBI single.
In the seventh, he had another chance to make an impact on the scoreboard and he delivered the game’s biggest hit. With runners on the corners and one out, he turned around a high fastball from left-hander Justin Wilson and hit a fly ball that just snuck over the wall in left center to break the game open. Ketel Marte then followed up with a solo home run just to the left of straightaway center to put Arizona up 6-0.
Corbin Carroll responds to moving up in the lineup in the best way possible. pic.twitter.com/Rm1UpmtIPl
— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) May 8, 2024
“He threw a fastball up,” said Carroll after the game. “Two strikes, trying to use the big part of the field and get the run in from third.”
“That’s what Diamondback baseball is all about,” said Lovullo. “I don’t want us to be known as just a small ball team. I want us to be known as a team when we need to, we can, and we can slug when we need to.”
That was all the run support Zac Gallen needed. Back on the mound for the first time since April 26th, Gallen wasn’t necessarily sharp with his command but held a struggling Reds lineup scoreless for six innings. The Diamondbacks ace allowed just one hit, walked three, and struck out six to pick up his fourth win of the season. After dealing with a hamstring issue that kept him on the shelf for 11 days, Lovullo decided to clip Gallen at after just 79 pitches with a six-run lead.
Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald took the mound for the first after getting activated from the 15-day injured list before the game. Sewald allowed a solo home run, but recorded the final three outs of the game in his season debut. The team had been without their closer for the first 35 games of the season due to a left oblique strain, so having him back was a huge boost to the bullpen.
Winning their first series opener since Opening Day, the Diamondbacks will look to take the series with another win. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery takes the mound for Arizona, while Graham Ashcraft will start for Cincinnati. First pitch at Great American Ballpark will be Wednesday afternoon at 3:40 PM MST.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
